


Teach Me to be More Adaptive

by mizface



Series: Linnet Bird [10]
Category: Canadian 6 Degrees, Harper's Island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-07
Updated: 2011-10-07
Packaged: 2017-10-24 09:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizface/pseuds/mizface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for a ds_snippets challenge and betaed by lucifuge5.  Title comes from <i>Sweeney Todd</i> lyrics.</p><p>Spoilery for the series, post-series AU</p>
    </blockquote>





	Teach Me to be More Adaptive

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a ds_snippets challenge and betaed by lucifuge5. Title comes from _Sweeney Todd_ lyrics.
> 
> Spoilery for the series, post-series AU

There are edges of Madison’s life that don’t ever touch or overlap. It’s easier to do than it sounds, as long as you pay attention, plan well, and keep your wits about you.

She’s had good teachers for this.

Her mother, without meaning to, showed her how to remain calm, to not show how she’s feeling no matter how much she might want to. True, cracks in that alabaster countenance appeared when circumstances were extreme, but in her mother’s daily life, it was how she operated. Madison saw the advantages of that outward show of strength, strove to emulate it.

Her grandfather was a planner. It was how he built his successful business. He was always quick to tell anyone who asked. But looking deeper, Madison saw how it wasn’t just his life he’d planned, but that of his family, his children and grandchildren as well. She saw that slight deviations were tolerated, but major changes were discouraged, stamped out as swiftly and strongly as necessary. From him she learned to leave room to adapt.

And it was John who showed her the importance of paying attention. How the smallest details made the biggest differences. How noticing what was going on beyond your own circle of influence was a rare ability these days. How knowing that could make all the difference. Could give her the ability to manipulate people and situations to fit her worldview.

Madison’s sees her life as a chain of islands, places to land, keep her feet, separate but held together by the common threads of her existence through caution, strategy and determination.

Only one, however, feels like a safe harbor.


End file.
